Oh Christmas Tree
by NoEarlyBird
Summary: Spencer is going all out for Christmas this year: decorations, stockings, presents and of course a Christmas tree - that is, he did have a tree, until Bryan (accidentally, of course) burned it down. Now what!


Disclaimer: Do not own Beyblade. Maybe I'll get it for Christmas? (One can hope!)

 **A/N** : Hellooo everyone,

welcome to this year's Christmas fanfiction. I'm so glad I found the time to write this down. Inspired was this piece by the latest IKEA catalogue - I'll explain that later. Well, enjoy! :)

* * *

 **Oh Christmas Tree**

* * *

"Bryan, don't!"

If only Tala had a dollar for every time someone said that - he'd have a tiger on a gold leash, be sipping champagne on ice... Not that Tala cared much for the sparkling drink, and he really didn't get why someone would want a leash made from gold, being that it was a rather soft metal... but one got the general idea.

'Bryan, don't' was usually the beginning of a middle sized to large disaster. Tala wasn't sure if 'disaster' still covered this. Probably not. This was more a catastrophe of epic dimensions.

'Bryan, don't!' had this time been followed by a very graphic display of why fireworks should not be used inside. Tala was honestly impressed by how fast the Christmas tree had burned down. And if it hadn't been for Kai, it wouldn't have been just the tree. Kai had obviously anticipated something like this happening and kept a fire distinguisher close by - almost touching how well he knew them. Even though the fire distinguisher had been within reach and Kai's reflexes were truly remarkable, there was nothing much left of their Christmas tree: A pile of ashes, bits and pieces of the little decorations Spencer had already put up and a few needles that had most likely fallen to the floor before everything had gone up in flames, all topped with white foam. What a mess.

Also covered in foam was the culprit. Bryan sat frozen in place amongst the remains of the tree and stared at the fireworks in his hands.

So far no one had said a word.

Tala glanced right. Kai's face was expressionless - if anything, Tala would say he looked annoyed. Yeah, there was a little twitch in his left eyebrow. Definitely annoyed. Probably because of the mess. Or all the time spent on picking out the Christmas tree yesterday that now was in vain. Maybe both. Kai was a complex being, after all.

Tala glanced left. Spencer had frozen with a Christmas ornament in hand, arm raised halfway to place it on the tree. His face was the exact opposite of Kai's - it was overflowing with emotions. He was shocked, angry and close to tears at once. The poor lad, he'd been so excited about this tree.

"Wicked!"

Although whispered, in the silence Bryan's remark was clearly audible to everyone. Kai raised a brow, Tala both. 'Wicked' would not have been Tala's word of choice. No, really not.

Bryan's comment also rattled Spencer from his frozen state.

"Wicked?" Spencer croaked.

A bit firmer and louder he repeated, "Wicked?! You burned down my Christmas tree, you _moron_!"

Spencer didn't usually swear. While moron was practically polite for Bryan, for Spencer it was likely the meanest thing he'd said in his life. He was mad alright!

Tala placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder. He was shaking. Whether it was from the shock or the anger Tala couldn't tell. Just in case it was the latter he took the Christmas ornament from Spencer before he could throw it at Bryan - they'd already lost enough to the fire.

Bryan opened his mouth, no doubt to say something stupid.

Tala kicked him before he got the chance and said, "Shut up and get something to clean up your mess, Bryan!"

Bryan wanted to protest, but a stern look from Kai and another kick from Tala changed his mind.

While Bryan scrambled to his feet and went to look for their cleaning utensils, Tala exchanged looks with Kai. Kai nodded towards Spencer, then the kitchen door.

Take Spencer to the kitchen, that meant.

Kai then wordlessly put away the fire extinguisher, sat down in the armchair that miraculously had remained foam-free and crossed his arms over his chest. His mission was clear: to make sure Bryan would not leave a single speck of foam, not one pine needle. Fair enough. Kai wasn't the best candidate for emotional support anyways. Not that Tala would pride himself with such skills either, but Kai was exceptionally bad at it. He'd silently pour Spencer a drink and consider his job done.

Tala sighed.

"Come on, Spence," he said.

Spencer didn't resist when he was led from the living room to the kitchen and maneuvered onto a chair. Instead of a shot, Tala placed a box of chocolates in front of his teammate (he was the comfort food type of guy) and sat down beside him.

Spencer sniffled.

Oh god, I hope he doesn't cry, Tala thought.

He looked around, found and placed a box of tissues next to the chocolates. Just in case.

Chocolates, tissues... now what? Tala felt like he'd have to more, so he awkwardly patted Spencer shoulder. Physical contact always seemed to help in movies.

Spencer sniffled again and shoved two chocolates at once into his mouth.

Well, whatever helped...?

Tala kept patting and said, "We'll figure something out, don't worry."

Spencer whimpered. Oh no, had he said something wrong? Tala stopped patting Spencer's back and re-evaluated the situation. Spencer's eyes were swimming a bit, but he wasn't crying. Yet. Oh man...

"But it's Christmas Eve, Tala. Where are we going to get a tree at this time?"

Towards the end his voice began to tremble. Another three chocolates found their way into Spencer's mouth. Good thing they'd stocked up on this stuff for the holidays, or rather Spencer had. He'd been determined to go the full nine yards regarding Christmas this year: decorations, food, stockings, presents, tree,... well everything. He had been so excited. It hurt Tala to see him this disappointed. The happiness shattered in the blink of an eye - or the strike of a match, in their case. Freakin' Bryan.

He placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder again and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"We'll figure it out. Why don't you go for a walk, or take a nap, and leave it to us?"

Tala had no idea what they were going to do about this. Spencer was absolutely right, shops would be closed by now. But that didn't seem the most comforting thing to say.

Spencer nodded. He popped another chocolate into his mouth and got up.

"A walk sounds good," he muttered.

He got up. After a couple steps towards the door he turned around and grabbed the box of chocolates from the table. Chocolates in hand, he disappeared into the hallway. Moments later Tala heard the front door fall shut.

Right. Okay. One problem down, one to go. Christmas tree. Where the hell was he going to get a Christmas tree? Tala sighed. Being team captain could really be a burden. Especially with someone like Bryan on his team... Freakin' Bryan.

He went back into the living room. Under Kai's critical eye, Bryan had cleaned up most of the mess. Only specks of foam on the couch pillows reminded of the disaster earlier. Where the tree had been there was now a clean, open space.

A space he needed to fill, somehow.

"Okay, where can we get another tree at this time?" he asked.

He didn't expect anything to come of it, but it was worth a shot.

"The store," Bryan said and wiped the last foam away.

Kai snorted.

"Stores will be closed."

"Take the neighbor's tree."

"The guy is ex-military and would no doubt shoot you."

"The fucking forest then."

"We don't have a car, we don't have an ax to cut it down, it is dark and it would simply take too long."

Bryan looked like he wanted to throw the shovel with foam at Kai. And knowing Bryan, he would. Before Christmas would get even more out of hand, Tala took the shovel from Bryan.

"Err, Bryan, why don't you call up the shops and see if any are still open?"

Bryan cussed under his breath, made a rude gesture, but nevertheless went to his room to (hopefully) make the calls.

When the door fell shut Kai said, "I suppose you said that to keep him busy?"

"That and I have the tiniest spark of hope that some shop will still be open..."

Kai raised a brow. He obviously did not have that spark of hope.

Tala shrugged and walked over to their utility closet.

"What else can we do? It's not like we can built a Christmas-..."

He opened the door to their closet and froze for a second.

"...tree!" he then muttered.

Tala spun around.

"Kai!"

"Hn?"

"Come take a look."

He pointed at the closet.

Kai grunted, got up and joined him. Together they looked into the closet, and what was leaning against the back wall.

Tala exchanged looks with Kai.

Kai shrugged.

"I guess it would do."

* * *

Tala stepped back and examined their work.

"Damn, we're good!"

He grinned at Kai. Kai rolled his eyes and left the living room. It seemed he didn't agree.

Tala wasn't too bothered by that. He thought it was marvelous.

"All your fussing might have been in vain though," Bryan muttered. "Spencer seems to have gotten lost."

He was sitting on the couch, a drink in one hand, his phone in the other. Tala had ordered him to sit his ass down and not move so he wouldn't set fire to anything else. So far, he'd obeyed. Probably because Bryan just didn't want to do any work. Freakin' Bryan...

He did have a point about Spencer though; he'd been gone for ages!

Kai returned with two drinks in his hands, one of which he handed to Tala. Oh, even Kai couldn't resist the holiday spirit. He happily accepted the drink. But the question remained. Where was Spencer?

"How big would you say is the chance of Spencer getting lost?"

Just then, Tala heard the front door open.

"About 63 percent," Kai nonetheless answered. "But today isn't the day."

Tala decided not to say anything - what could he have possibly answered anyways - and go greet Spencer.

He stepped out into the hallway.

"You are just in time!" he grinned.

"You got another tree?" Spencer asked and by the sound of his voice it was clear he hadn't been expecting anything.

"Well, yeah, …sort of."

He placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder and gently stirred him towards the living room.

"Merry Christmas, Spence!"

Kai had put on soft Christmas music, the room was lit by candlelight (yes, they had risked it!) and in the middle of the room stood... a ladder. A Christmas ladder!

More specific, it was a wooden step ladder, the kind that steps on both sides and stood in triangular shape. Tala thought there really was a similarity to a tree, now that they'd sprayed it with this metallic‑green graffiti paint they'd found in Bryan's stock. That, together with a couple branches they'd sawed off the real Christmas tree the day before and now stuck onto the ladder, made a decent tree‑alternative. They had hung their tree with fairy lights and Christmas decorations in gold and red. A stack of presents underneath completed the picture.

A masterpiece, in Tala's opinion. He held his breath as he waited for Spencer's reply.

Spencer simply stared at the 'tree'. Then his eyes got all watery - again.

Oh great, he hates it, Tala thought.

Then Spencer pulled him into a bone-breaking hug. Tala didn't know what to do. He wasn't a hugger as it was, and this hug had come out of the blue and given him no chance to mentally prepare for it. So once again he settled for an awkward pat on the back with the hand that was not trying to protect his drink.

Spencer let go and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Thank you, you guys," he said and sniffled.

Despite Kai's 'do not come near me'-glare, Spencer first pulled Kai, then Bryan into a hug.

"Merry Christmas, everyone," Spencer said and with a smile wiped a little tear from the corner of his eye.

A happy tear.

And so it happened that Bryan hadn't ruined Christmas after all. Well, it wasn't perfect, but when was life ever.

Tala smiled, as he raised his glass.

"Merry Christmas!"

* * *

 **The End**

* * *

 **A/N** : I said I'll explain, so here it goes: I saw a decorated ladder in the catalogue (you can google it, it's really quite cute) and somehow my brain turned that into... this. I must admit I do love the randomness in the the things that can inspire a story.

Now, I hope you enjoyed this piece and I'd be super happy if you left me some feedback. Also, I wish all of you a very merry Christmas, or ,if you don't celebrate Christmas, a very happy couple of days. Take care everyone. ~Bird


End file.
